Finding Indian Food in Jersey as good as NYC

[ghostrider]

I've decided to assemble a list of Indian restaurants that are somewhere near my area (Rutherford), so that I can start sampling their offerings when time & circumstance allow.

I've just spent a very frustrating half hour-plus with the search engine. I can't seem to get it to search for two words within the same post, in spite of following the Advanced Search instructions.

E.g., I want to find posts containing the words "Indian" and "Montclair." Instructions say search for +Indian +Montclair. Doesn't work, gives me a HUGE list of posts containing EITHER Indian OR Montclair. Tried various permutations on placement of the + sign, no better. Any advice on the search engine would be appreciated too.

Then searched on "Indian," which, as one might expect, gives another huge list. Somewhat helpful but a lot to wade through.

What I've found so far is listed below. However, I seem to remember that someone had mentioned a place in Fairlawn, & another place in Montclair in addition to Taj Palace, that I haven't scared up so far. (I should have taken notes on the spot, that'll teach me!) If anyone knows either place, please advise!

Also, I'm aware of the Iselin area from the Turnpike thread. To me that's an excursion, as opposed to the closer-to-home places I'm looking for. I.e., Montclair is 8 miles away while it's 30 to Iselin, so I'd much rather drive to Montclair.

Here's what I've found so far:

Namaskaar

Mall at IV / Rt 4 West

Paramus

Taj Palace

Montclair

Kinara

River Road

Edgewater

Thanks for any & all suggestions!

Edited to add:

Bloody hell! Just tried the +Indian +Montclair search again and it seems to have worked! Mystifying.

Anyway this has enabled me to add Natraj to the list. I think that's the one I'd noticed but not noted some months back.

Or perhaps it was Satish Palace. Ah well, the list grows.

Edited April 17, 2004 by ghostrider (log)

[Jason Perlow]

Add BHOJ, a small Indian restaurant in Elmwood park. Does tandoor and breads and South Indian stuff very well, and has a nice sunday buffet. Very popular with Indians. Great Dosas. Not at all afraid to be spicy, either.

Bhoj

Address: 430 Market St, Elmwood Park, NJ 07407

Phone: (201) 797-6800

[scott123]

I don't know if it's within your acceptable travel distance, but I'm a big fan of Jyoti on rt 46 E. in Wayne (close to the Willowbrook mall). Their dal can get salty, veggies are only so-so, the spinach is inedible, but out of the tens of buffets I've been to, they have the best chicken tikka masala. At least on this side of the Atlantic.

Using superpages.com, I did a distance-based search for Indian restaurants using Montclair as a starting point. Bear in mind that superpages is notorious for having incomplete/defunct listings. I'd be sure to call before you go and make sure they're still open.

9.6 Raja Palace

72 Us Highway 46 E, Lodi, NJ 07644

(973) 574-1650

(973) 574-1652 (fax)

http://www.rajapalacerestaurant.com

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

11.9 Madrasbalace

791 Newark Ave, Jersey City, NJ 07306

(201) 876-0110

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

12.2 Mela Authentic Indian Cuisine

47 East Ridgewood Ave, Ridgewood, NJ 07450

(201) 445-6060

Email: melacuisineofindia@yahoo.com

http://www.melacuisineofindia.com

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kinara Cuisine Of India

880 River Rd., Edgewater, NJ 07020

(201) 313-0555

(201) 313-0640 (fax)

Email: president@kinararestaurant.com

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

10.9 Saffron Indian Cusine

249 State Hwy No 10, East Hanover, NJ 07936

(973) 599-0700

(973) 599-9444 (fax)

Email: feedback@saffronnj.com

http://www.saffronnj.com

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

14.8 Chand Palace Indian Restaurant & Banquet

239 Littleton Road, Parsippany, NJ 07054

(973) 334-5444

(973) 402-8403 (fax)

[Curlz]

I had the joy of learning to eat Indian food with an ex-bf who was Indian; the best food in our area is still at his mom's house in Bergenfield!!! BUT...I'm a big fan (as was he) of India on the Hudson on Washington Street in Hoboken. I absolutely love their CTM, and they make a dish called Pasanda Badami (chicken or lamb) that has one of the yummiest sauces EVER. I also love their Dal Makhni, and their ginger tandoori chicken wings. I can't say that I love their attitude, but the service is always good if not overly friendly (depends on who you get). As with many other Indian restaurants, they have a buffet that's a great value, 'tho I don't know the exact days. And...you can park in the lot on the end of Wash (the Tea bldg) and the restaurant will validate the ticket.

I've also been to a few places in Jersey City and in Edison (Oak Tree Road), but for my $$ and the close proximity, IOTH is still my favorite.

Edit: Fwiw, we went to Taj Palace once and were NOT impressed. Food was greasy and just didn't have nearly the flavor we enjoyed other places. Don't know if it has changed (that was about 3 years ago).

Edited April 18, 2004 by Curlz (log)

[pnapoli]

also in montclair: royal india (in upper montclair plaza, behind the bellevue theater), and udupi village.

and you've seen the wazwan thread below, right?

[tommy]

BUT...I'm a big fan (as was he) of India on the Hudson on Washington Street in Hoboken.

oddly, i found myself enjoying India on the Hudson very often (given that i think that hoboken has shit restaurants for the most part).

the aforementioned Mela is Ridgewood is pretty good, but i've had one too many run-ins with nasty waitstaff and probably won't go back based on that alone. that's a shame, and i'm losing out. but there are other options.

[ghostrider]

Thanks all! Jason, spotted Bhoj on Mapquest, looks like an easy drive. Must go.

Been to Mela a couple of times over the years. It was good, though it didn't bowl me over.

India on the Hudson sounds like another essential trip.

Yep saw the Wazwan thread but don't think I could ever enjoy a meal in West Caldwell. Too many sad memories there. Pity but there you have it.

Had hoped to hit Montclair tonight to try one of their places but the evening fell apart. Will write up my experiences when we do get out.

[Jason Perlow]

BTW in the Hackensack area I would also add Dragonel Restaurant which is Indian Chinese, and the superb Dhaaba restaurant next door which they share a kitchen with.

[bhelpuri]

've decided to assemble a list of Indian restaurants that are somewhere near my area (Rutherford)

These are probably at the further limit of the distance you're willing to go.

However, the only real 'Little India' neighborhoods in New Jersey are on Newark Avenue in Jersey City and in a three-four block area in Edison.

In these concentrations, you will find the unalloyed real stuff - crowded restaurants and grocery stores catering near-exclusively to recent Indian migrants. In each of the two areas, there are particular places to recommend because there is some significant overlap in what's on offer. But in both you will be able to find a couple of very decent dosa joints - selling some of vegetarian food of South India, at least one snacky Bombay/Gujerati restaurant - offering up spicy/tangy/crunchy/sweet street foods like sev batata puri and pav bhaji. Also, two or three good restaurants serving the usual mostly-Punjabi menu that passes for "Indian food" everywhere in the West, and at least one Indian-Chinese restaurant.

I've not tried all the restaurants mentioned in this thread - I have tried some - but I have yet to find an upscale NJ Indian restaurant that's particularly worth mentioning, or can be recommended over these Indian ghetto (and downmarket) establishments.

[Jason Perlow]

Bhel: You should try Dhaaba and Dragonel, for sure.

[bhelpuri]

Bhel: You should try Dhaaba and Dragonel, for sure

I just looked at their menus on-line, at hackensacknow.com, and will try to do so at the next convenient time.

Dragonel sounds quite interesting and a couple of cuts above the Indian-Chinese places in the subcontinental ghettos I referenced earlier. The people who run these two restaurants appear to be Calcuttans, and thus from the city that is kind of the epicenter for Indian Chinese food. Yes, this place sounds promising.

Dhaaba's menu is mostly the same old same old, the Anglo-Bangla-Punjabi fare that everyone is familiar with. But those kathi rolls sound pretty good, and there are a couple of other Calcutta items that are described in quite an appealing manner.

Thanks for the tip(s).

[jwjojo]

Had Indian food at the Brick Lane Curry House on 6th street last night. It was very good. Much better than the places I frequent in Jersey(Mela in Ridgewood which was very disappointing the last time I went, and India on the Hudson in Hoboken). Where can you find Indian food in Jersey as good as NYC?

[mjr_inthegardens]

You've clearly been frequenting the wrong parts of NJ

You need to go to Oak Tree Road in Edison/Iselin NJ (Exit 131 on the Parkway)

Moghul, Moghul Express, Ming for Indian/Chinese, and a whole bunch of other fast food and sit down restaurants.

-mjr

[adegiulio]

One word....PARSIPPANY

[Curlz]

Got to agree that there is authentic Indian in Edison! Search the NJ thread...I know we had a discussion going on it within the last few months.

[mjr_inthegardens]

recent threads on this subject:

One visit to Oak Tree Road

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=46196

Ming

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=12290

Dragonel (chinese indian hackensack, recc by j. perlow)

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=35844

South Indian dining in North Jersey

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=4410&hl=

Moghul

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=11321&hl=

There are other threads too.

Map of Oak Tree Rd with business names/restaurants

http://www.indianj.com/oaktree/default.asp

[pbrodsky]

I'll second the recommendation of Moghul in Edison (although it's a couple of years since I've been there). If you are looking for something further north, I still feel that Kinara in Edgewater has cooking about at the same level. Their web site is at http://www.kinararestaurant.com

[gsabino]

Which place in Parsippany??

[cranrob]

Ganges Restaurant, which opened in the last few months in West Windsor (Princeton Junction) is awesome. Southern Indian.

[jwjojo]

I should have emphasized Northern NJ....closer to the the city. Edison is a bit of a drive out. Thanks for the responses.

[jpr54_]

There is also Jersey City-Newark Avenue-The shopping for vegetables and staples is I think better than Oaktrree Rd.

Chowpatty has a good restaurant there as well-

Joanne

[nizza]

The place to go to in Parsippany is Chand Palace. They have a vegetarian restaurant that has wonderful dinners and buffets. Then, next door they have a beautiful banquet room and only on Tuesday night they open up the banquet facility and have THE BEST Indian buffet including various meat dishes. You really have to go and try it. We have been going there for years and it has always been consistently great.

Also, in Wayne (near to the Willowbrook Mall) we go to Jyoti Exotic Indian Cuisine, (973) 890-2224, 24 Us Highway 46, Wayne, NJ. They have just an ok buffet, but, we always go for dinner there and their food is delicious.

[Curlz]

Chand Palace lists the restaurant and banquet facilities on their web site, which also includes a few coupons. That Tues pm buffet sounds like it's worth the trip!

Restaurant: 257 Littleton Road · Parsippany, NJ 07054

Banquet Facility: 269 Littleton Road · Parsippany, NJ 07054

Tel: 973-334-5444

I'm assuming that although the addresses are different, that they're all in the same location?

Aside to Ant and Tommy...thanks for teaching me to make "pretty" links!!!

[Cook456]

They used to have a buffet on Sunday. Went there several times with my brother who lives in Montville. It's a great way to taste several dishes. My favorite was the chic pea dish. Can't remember excatly what was in it, but it was a tomatoey sauce that was great to sop up with the nan ( bread).

Be sure to order the mango smoothie; it was delicious.

[nizza]

Curlz - thanks for posting the website. I meant to do that, but I would not have been able to as pretty as you did!

Yes, the buffet is worth the trip.